Microsoft has stated that they will not be naming a new CEO in 2013, defying speculation that the board wanted to make the announcement before the end of the year. The announcement came via a post on the official Microsoft blog by John W. Thompson, a member of Microsoft’s board of directors.

Back in August, Steve Ballmer announced that he would be retiring within 12 months and that Microsoft was conducting a search for a new CEO.

Here is what John had to say about the selection process:

As the chair of the Board’s search committee, I’m pleased with our progress. The Board has taken the thoughtful approach that our shareholders, customers, partners and employees expect and deserve. After defining our criteria, we initially cast a wide net across a number of different industries and skill sets. We identified over 100 possible candidates, talked with several dozen, and then focused our energy intensely on a group of about 20 individuals, all extremely impressive in their own right. As you would expect, as this group has narrowed, we’ve done deeper research and investigation, including with the full Board. We’re moving ahead well, and I expect we’ll complete our work in the early part of 2014.

According to the post, seeing that the company has limited the pool of candidates down to 20 individuals, is likely why we have heard many rumors about who is currently in the running for the position.

Until Microsoft officially announces who will be taking over the position, expect the rumors to fly as it will be an extremely important decision for the company during this time of transition to a device and services business model. By announcing the third CEO for a company that provides software on nearly every PC on the planet, expect the decision to be heavily scrutinized internally and externally.